Saturday, May 23, 2009

Today it has been 2 weeks since I got the 550 home so I thought that I might do a little writeup on the ownership experience so far

The vehicle has been behaving wonderfully, actually much better than my expectation.

There are no heating issues, that too when its more that 42-43 degrees celsius. Infact yesterday I drove t for about 50 kms or so in the heat and traffic and when I topped up the radiator today morning it was just half a liter of water or so.When driving on straight empty roads the temp stays at 80 degrees celsius and in traffic or when moving slowly it notches upto 90.

There were many small small issues, and i have got a large percentage of them resolved. so Ill just mention the ones that are pending

Clanking noise when the vehicle passes over potholes, and not only potholes but also when driving on a well paved road, the noise is very prominent

Oil pressure meter not working. The electrician says that the oil meter will have to be changed

Some modification/ additions/ cosmetics that I have planned are

The passenger side footrest does not seem right to me. But the denter says that its ok. So I will wait for an OTR to see what others have to say

I want to add a footrest below the rear tow hook (whether its advisable, as I will be doing this purely for cosmetics???)

Reverse light. Can this be added, I mean that as soon as I engage the reverse gear will the lamp switch on automatically or I will have to switch it on manually

Fog lamps between front bumper and the grille

The inside cabin light is of a very low power and want to increase the wattage

Cigarette lighter

DC-AC power inverter

A pair D-hooks (same as my 3B)

I have been driving the vehicle quite extensively, and have driven it for about 170-200kms or so. This is considering that I dont drive to my office and the heat wave in Delhi does not help you with your decision to drive the jeep these days.

The tyres have still not been delivered as yet and I am still waiting for the Apolo Bullets. Tomorrow I will be going to Noida and then will get the diesel toped up, so will get an estimate of the FE of the jeep.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

I have not been able to update the site in the past few weeks. I am now fast forwarding to the day when I took the delivery of the vehicle. Anyone wishing to read on the work done between the last post and this one please visit my thread on TeamBHP

Hey EverybodyAfter a very long wait of 5 months, (well almost 3 days short), and 3 months ruined by me sending the vehicle to everybody knows where, and wasting wads of money. I finally got the MM550 home.There are still many small small issues to be sorted but nevertheless it driving great.Chalo at least I have the consolation that the engine and the gearbox rebuild have been good and the extra money that I paid is the price for good labor. A little more or less cash here or there, hardly matters.No Hard feelingsI believe in the theory that everything happens for a reason.

Anyways I have written loads in the past few months and will not bore everybody with more writing.In a couple of days I will be sharing the details of the cost's involved and also the initial niggles that are there in the vehicle